From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sun Mar 16 21:50:57 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.8/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h2H5kviv013354 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:46:58 -0800 (PST) Received: from scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net (scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.49]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.8/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h2H5kAZQ013313 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:46:11 -0800 (PST) Received: from sdn-ar-023casfrmp181.dialsprint.net ([63.183.8.183] helo=earthlink.net) by scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 18unRo-0000Xk-00 for [[email protected]]; Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:46:08 -0800 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:44:36 -0800 From: Matthew Dodder <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] Ed Levin Park X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] All, Yesterday, 03/15/2003 Brian Christman and I looked for the previously reported LONG-EARED OWLS in the Elm picnic area at Ed Levin Park. He and I were unsuccessful after more than an hour of searching, but we saw evidence of the birds in the form of dozens of pellets beneath the dense pines. As a consolation we were able to find a single BARN OWL perched silently in a different area. Also, we heard a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL along the creek near the golf course. We walked quickly to where the sound originated and of course it stopped. Then it began to call again but from farther away. The bird seemed to be moving down stream quickly, and eventually slipping away before we could view it. The entire time we searched we could hear the constant buzzing of ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS in the area too. We then hiked up the Tularcitos and Caliente trails above the pond to the sycamore trees. There we heard a mysterious and incessant "peeping" we could not place. After some time we discovered a female ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD feeding two young birds in the widely spaced branches of the big trees. Watching her thrust her long pointed bill deeply into each of the chick's throats was interesting but caused us to reflect on her need for accuracy... In that same area we found RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW in full song as it perched on a fence post. Continuing up the hill we found a single YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE and WESTERN BLUEBIRD. The most exciting sight of the day was a pair of GOLDEN EAGLES at the top of our walk. They were engaged in a dramatic courtship display with one bird doing a repeated "U" flight. It flew up at a steep angle, nearly vertical in fact, wings closed as if it were in a full stoop upward. Then it came to a stall at the top, performed what appeared to be an acrobatic somersault and dropped towards earth with wings partly opened. Descending at great speed it came to the bottom of the "U" and opened its wings fully to begin another upward dive before closing its wings again and performing the maneuver again. I still get a chill thinking about how beautiful the experience was. Matthew Dodder http://www.birdguy.net _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]